It's only natural, I think, to have doubts about your ability to parent--especially if you have a great mom yourself (as I do). There are so many ideals in your mind you want to live up to and suddenly every decision seems to be crucial and potentially life-threatening. (Example: Did I do enough "tummy time" with my baby today? What if I didn't?! Oh, great. He'll probably never be able to lift his head. Ever.)
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| Just kidding--he can totally already lift his head. My baby is BRILLIANT! |
One of the few days that I decided to leave the house (AKA--put on real pants...with zippers and buttons and everything) I picked up a Redbox movie. I watched said Redbox movie and then returned to CVS the next day to return it. Here's where the problem begins: As I pulled up to CVS, with sweet baby Carter peacefully sleeping in the backseat, I wondered to myself, "Am I supposed to unload this sleeping baby to return the Redbox movie, or can I leave him in the car?"
*Somewhere out there, someone is screaming at their computer screen: "What?!? You can't leave a baby in a car!!!"
I know that you're not supposed to leave babies in cars (in fact, you're not even supposed to leave dogs in cars), but shouldn't there be some sort of minimum distance for that sort of thing?
I also know that you're not supposed to wake a sleeping baby....talk about a Catch 22.
I ended up deciding that if I could find a parking spot immediately in front of the Redbox kiosk AND there was no line, I would return the movie as quickly as possible and leave Carter in the car.
The aforementioned criteria were met, so I parked, scampered out of the car (being careful to hold onto my keys because if I had locked those in the car with my baby...well, that would have just been a difficult conversation to have with a locksmith) and returned the movie as quickly as possible. In total, I was probably away from Carter by 4 feet and for 20 seconds. Even so, I kept expecting to hear sirens wail and a social worker tap me on the shoulder and ask me to please give my baby to a person who would love him more.
By the time I got back to the car, I'd come to terms with my decision and (since no horrible consequences had occurred thus far) I'd begun to breathe normally again...
Until I saw the horrified face of the person who was waiting in the passenger seat of the car parked next to mine, staring in judgement at the occupied car seat in my corolla.
I'm pretty sure he was calling Child Protective Services as I peeled out of the parking lot, hoping he wasn't quick enough to write down my license plate number.
Does my Redbox rendevoux make me a bad mom? I hope not. Either way, Carter slept through the whole thing, so let's let him believe he got a good one for as long as possible. Nobody say a word, ok?
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I'm cracking up at this because you would probably DIE if you saw some of the times I do this haha. And like actually go into a store for a second (as long as I can see the car the whole time through the window). Probably awful. But unloading and reloading THREE KIDS just to grab some Children's Tylenol at Walgreens seems absurd. I feel ya!
ReplyDeleteBefore social media could publicly shame this sort of behavior it was way more common. I have memories of my brother, sister and I being car seat age and left alone why Mom ran inside real quick. Continue to trust your judgment and instinct. Hey, you've kept the nugget alive for the bobble head month. It's gotta be easier from here...
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